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Rank: 4
Why He Matters: He's already the planet's most prominent media mogul, with properties that span Europe (BSkyB satellite service and England's Times and Sun newspapers), Asia (the Foxtel and StarTV satellite networks), and North America (Fox Studios in Hollywood, Fox News, DirecTV, and the New York Post). But at 75, Murdoch is still trying to extend his reach, and this time he has America's youth audience in his crosshairs -- and a host of new Web properties in his portfolio. His big splash, of course, was the $580 million purchase of the wildly popular MySpace social-networking portal last summer. That was followed by News Corp.'s $650 million acquisition of the Internet gaming and entertainment company IGN. The goal is to develop a network of sites that will enable advertisers to reach Web-savvy 18- to 34-year-olds -- a demographic that increasingly shuns traditional mass media like newspapers and television. (See "Sly Fox?," page 100.) Big media companies have fared poorly in their attempts to reach Generation Net, but Murdoch's flair for bombastic populism may offer a decisive advantage. Or, as the kids might say, "Not bad ... for an old guy."Rupert Murdoch CEO, News Corp. |
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